Vaginal irrigation devices have gained wide use in cleansing and treating the female organs. Many of these have been adapted for home use by the women patient without the need for any supervision or assistance. One such system includes a flexible rubber container or bottle suspended above the woman that conveys the irrigating fluid by gravity through a flexible transfer hose and a rigid plastic vaginal probe. The probe is reusable and has a central opening therethrough that disperses the medicant through a plurality of small apertures in the sides of the probe. This system has the primary disadvantage that because it is reusable, it is far from bacteriostatic even when cleansed carefully after each use, thus subjecting the female to repeated infection. Another disadvantage is that because of the rigid construction of the probe there is frequently vaginal discomfort during insertion and use.
In an attempt to increase the patient comfort of vaginal irrigating probes, several probes have been designed in which the probe is covered with a soft cellular foam material that is both non-irritating to the human tissue and resilient. Examples of these probes are illustrated in the Fielding U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,709,224 and 3,731,682. In the Fielding U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,682, a vaginal irrigating probe is illustrated having a soft cushioned body constructed of a sponge material, but because of the pliability of the body, it must be inserted with a rigid implement. This system also requires a rigid douche nozzle that is inserted into the cushioned body, after removal of the inserting implement, prior to irrigation. This system has not gained any considerable commercial acceptance, not only because of the expense of providing three separate parts, namely the cushioned body, the inserting element, and the rigid douche nozzle, but also because the apparatus is too difficult for the female to use with any facile.
The Fielding U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,224 shows a similar system to that shown in his U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,682, except that a rigid element used in insertion of the soft cushioned body remains implanted during irrigation. This arrangement has the same disadvantage as the device shown in his latter patent.
It is a primary object of the present invention to ameliorate the problems noted above in patient implanted irrigating devices and particularly vaginal irrigating devices.